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deadlock Last modified: Tuesday, March 12, 2002

A condition that occurs when two processes are each waiting for the other to complete before proceeding. The result is that both processes hang. Deadlocks occur most commonly in multitasking and client/server environments. Ideally, the programs that are deadlocked, or the operating system, should resolve the deadlock, but this doesn't always happen. A deadlock is also called a deadly embrace.